Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
by phoenixlover7
Summary: My version of Harry's fifth year- It's my first ff, and I'd really appreciate it if i get some reviews! Enjoy!
1. Letters

  
Chapter 1- Letters  
  
  
"Get up… Now!"   
  
Petunia Dursley's footsteps died away as she walked down the corridor into the kitchen. Harry Potter reluctantly prised open an eyelid and he raised himself slowly up. What day was it today? All the memories of the evening before gradually flooded into his tired and sleepy mind. He remembered about his Uncle Vernon's big dinner. Apparently, some old chap had a large order in mind and Uncle Vernon had showed off by inviting him to dinner. Harry had to spend the whole night inside but it was all right, he had spent all night writing letters to his friends and doing some nasty homework given to him over the summer holidays.   
  
And it was partly because of his school that Harry was despised so much by his relatives. He wasn't an ordinary boy. In fact, Harry Potter was anything but ordinary. He was, in fact, a wizard about to begin his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And even by wizarding standards, Harry was still unusual. He lived with his horrible aunt and uncle and spoilt cousin because his parents had been murdered by the evil wizard Voldemort when he was just one. However, when Voldemort had tried to finish Harry off as well, the curse rebounded and Voldemort was left just a powerless evil spirit. Harry had become the most famous boy in the wizarding world, but he never knew that he was famous until he received the fateful letter on his eleventh birthday telling him that he had been accepted in to Hogwarts.   
  
But Voldemort's spirit had not been entirely powerless. He had spent his fourteen years in hiding scheming and attempting to come back to power. All his attempts had failed, and Harry had somehow always been involved in trying to stop any attempts of Voldemort to regain power. However, last year, Voldemort had succeeded. He had succeeded in gaining a body and he had become more powerful than he had ever been. Now, again, all the wizarding world lived in terror of what could happen in Voldemort came knocking on their front door.   
  
Aunt Petunia's footsteps were approaching again. "Aren't you up yet?" she barked.   
  
"All right, all right I'm up," Harry said sleepily.   
"Well hurry up! I need you to fry some bacon and eggs for breakfast so get a move on!"   
"Yes Aunt Petunia." 

Harry got up, put on a pair of glasses over his startling green eyes and didn't bother to brush his hair. It stuck up anyway. He pulled on a pair of oversized jeans, a hand-me-down from his cousin Dudley. Harry was small and thin, but he had grown a bit over the holidays. As he looked in the mirror, he slowly fingered a scar on his forehead, a relic of the evil curse that had touched him when he was still a baby. He then put on an old pair of trainers and went to the kitchen.   
  
"What took you so long, boy?"   
Uncle Vernon seems in a good mood today, thought Harry sarcastically. Without saying a word, he began to fry some eggs and bacon. Aunt Petunia was outside pretending to water some roses whilst spying on the excessively boring neighbours. Privet Drive wasn't the liveliest of streets. Harry turned the bacon over n the pan. If only he was at his friend Ron's house. But for some reason, Dumbledore, his headmaster at Hogwarts, had wanted him to spend his summer at the Dursleys', much to his disgust. His thoughts were interrupted as Dudley, Harry's cousin, waddled into the room. 

"Where's my breakfast?"   
Aren't we all polite today?, Harry thought. He scooped out the bacon and eggs, put them on a large plate and placed it on the table. Dudley's face lit up at the sight of he food. Aunt Petunia had given up on his diet and so he had returned into being the fattest boy on earth. When will his legs snap under all that weight, Harry wondered. He sat down as his aunt came in. Dudley was scoffing his bacon at top speed as he stared at the television. Harry took a single piece of bacon and a fried egg and munched slowly. Uncle Vernon looked testily over The Surrey News.   
"Why are you taking so long?"   
"I'm ready, Uncle"   
"Good, clean up the frying pan and go to your room" barked Aunt Petunia.   
"Yes, Aunt Petunia"   
Dudley sniggered, spraying pieces of fried egg everywhere. He choked and his parents turned in alarm. Panic arose, but Harry didn't care. He scrubbed the pan, dried it, and left the room. What's new?, he thought, they haven't remembered my birthday this year either. He opened the door to his room and went in. On the window, there was a small bunch of owls, one of them Hedwig. 

Harry walked to the window sill and carefully pulled at the letters and parcels tied to the legs of the owls. He noticed Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon, or Pig, as Ron called him hooting excitedly with an enormous parcel tied to this tiny leg. When Harry had rid all the owls of their burdens, one flew away, and Harry gave them a couple of Owl Treats. He then sat on his bed and opened the largest parcel, Ron's.   
  
Dear Harry [it read]   
  
Happy birthday! How are your holidays? Mine are as boring as hell. Weather's horrible. You can come to my place to stay from the 10th of August. Hope you can make it. Send an answer back pronto. Hope you like your present.   
  
Ron

  
Harry turned to open Ron's parcel. He tore off the brown paper and out fell a big box. Harry opened it eagerly. Inside were seven moving figures wearing bright orange robes. They moved and waved, then climbed onto miniature broomsticks and took off. They were models of the Chuddley Canons, Ron's favourite quidditch team. Quidditch was perhaps Harry's favourite thing in the world. It was a wizarding sport played on broomsticks, and Harry was Seeker on his house's quidditch team at school. Harry noticed a note at the bottom of the box.   
  
Dear Harry,   
  
The only way to stop the figures flying around is to point your wand at them and do a Freezing Charm. Hope you like them! Sorry I couldn't do better, but I really am broke this summer. Fred and George don't stop splashing money around, though. Mum's worried, she can't figure out how they got all that gold! They even bought me these new dress robes!   
  
Ron   
  
Harry gazed at the seven flying figures and felt a pang of guilt. Ron wasn't the richest guy around, but he still had managed to get enough money together to buy him a nice gift! He turned to open another letter which had his other friend Hermione's neat curly handwriting. 

  
  
Dear Harry, [Hermione's letter read]   
  
How are you? Happy birthday! I really didn't know what to get you for your birthday, so I thought that you had better choose for yourself! Enclosed is a gift voucher for five galleons from Flourish & Blott's, maybe you can find a good quidditch book or something of the like!   
  
Can you make it to Ron's house? I can, so we'll meet on the 10th if you can come. Oh, and how are your studies for the O.W.L. s going?   
  
Hermione   
  
-P.S.: I've been made a Prefect! Have you got your Hogwarts letter yet?   
  
  
Harry stared at the letter. Hermione was studying for her O.W.L. s? Already? His eyes strayed to the postscript and smiled. Of course Hermione was to become a Prefect, she was the cleverest and most hardworking girl in the whole year! He looked inside the parchment envelope and took out the gift voucher. He looked at it for some time and put it back in. Then he reached out for what looked like his Hogwarts letter. 

Harry thought that the envelope was a bit heavier than usual. He opened it slowly and took out two sheets of parchment, a train ticket and, to his amazement, a small round, golden badge. As he stared at the badge, it suddenly hit him…He must have been made a Prefect! Hands trembling, he unfolded the first sheet of parchment. It was his book list. He skimmed through it impatiently and threw it aside. He picked up the second piece of parchment. It was his usual Hogwarts letter, only it was slightly longer than usual.   
  
Dear Mr. Potter [it read]   
  
You are due to start school on the 1st of September. Enclosed is the Hogwarts Express train ticket on which there are all the details of your journey and your school book list. Please note that dress robes are necessary this year.   
Also, we would like to congratulate you on being made a Prefect. Enclosed is your Prefect badge. You will receive a list of duties on your first night at school.   
  
Yours sincerely,   
  
Minerva McGonagall 

Harry grinned uncontrollably to himself. The fact that he had just become a Prefect had finally sunk in. Wait till I tell Sirius, he thought. Sirius Black was Harry's godfather, an escaped convict out of the wizarding prison, Azkaban. He had been framed for killing a large number of muggles (non-magic people), and had met Harry in his third year at Hogwarts. 

  
  
Harry threw aside the Hogwarts letter and turned to pick up another one. Now, there were only two left. One was a big parchment envelope with an untidy scrawl attached to a fairy large parcel which Harry assumed was from Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts and Harry's Care of Magical Creatures teacher. The second was from Sirius. Harry snatched Sirius' letter and ripped it open. 

Dear Harry, [it read]   
  
I'm safe lying low at Remus Lupin's. All well. Hope you have a very happy birthday. I couldn't really buy you a fabulous birthday present, but I think you'll be happy enough with this until it's safe enough to buy you a big gift.   
  
Write back and see you soon!   
  
Snuffles   
  
  
Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione always referred to Sirius as Snuffles when they talked between them so that they would not get Sirius into trouble. His name had not yet been cleared because the real murderer, Peter Pettigrew was believed dead. 

  
Harry looked inside the envelope. Inside were a few photos. He pulled them out and saw that they were moving photos of his parents. He looked at them one by one and slowly put them aside. Then picked up his quill and scribble a reply on the reverse side of the parchment.   
  
  
Dear Sirius,   
  
Thank you for the great gift. You really don't have to buy me anything else, the photos were enough. What do you mean by 'see you soon'?   
  
Harry   
  
He took Hedwig out of her cage, tied the letter to her leg, and watched her fly away onto the night. 

After Hedwig had gone, Harry turned to open Hagrid's parcel. There was an old-looking crimson book. Along the spine was written: "All about Phoenixes". Harry looked curiously at the book. Why would Hagrid want to send him a book about Phoenixes? He flicked through it and a note fell out onto his lap. 

  
Happy birthday Harry!   
  
Hope you like the book. It's not much, but I was on an errand to Dumbledore with Madame Maxime. It'll come in useful, I guess.   
  
Hope the muggles are treating you well.   
  
Hagrid   
  
Harry read the note twice and put it aside. The book certainly seemed interesting. Harry supposed that he would need it for the following year's Care of Magical Creatures. He was reading the foreword when he remembered that he had to reply to Ron's letter. He closed the book and went downstairs to ask the Dursleys if he could go.   


Uncle Vernon turned a bright shade of purple as he read the letter.   
"I am NOT going to have these people in my house again!"   
"But Uncle…"   
"No buts! I do not want my fireplace blasted into a million pieces by… abnormal people!" he said, flecks of spit flying out of his enormous mouth.   
Harry wiped his face. "Uncle, what if I ask them to come by car?"   
"They don't even know what a car is!"   
"My friend's dad works at the Ministry, he can borrow a Ministry car"   
"Well, just you tell this friend Rod or whatever his ruddy name is to bring a decent car, not some shabby, derelict dump!"   
"Yes, Uncle Vernon."   
And Harry ran to his room to write the reply.   
  


Dear Ron [he scribbled]   
  
The muggles let me come on condition that you come by car… can you make it please? If so, tell me how you will get here and I'll try to negotiate with them. Also what time shall I wait for you?   
  
Thanks for the great present. You shouldn't have.   
  
Harry   
  
Harry turned to see where Pig was. The little fellow was rocketing around the room, bouncing off the walls, and hooting loudly. Harry could hear Uncle Vernon yelling from the living room so he leapt on the bed and quickly caught the owl. He forcefully tied the note to Pig's leg, went to the window, and let him go. The little owl was soon a small black dot in the clouds. 


	2. Hello to the Wizarding World

Chapter 2- Hello to the Wizarding World  
  
Breakfast on the 10th of August was not a cheery affair. The Dursleys were very nervous at the prospect of meeting a group of wizards. Ron had sent Harry a letter telling him to expect him at about half ten. Dudley finished his breakfast quickly and went into hiding in his room. Harry washed up the dishes and went to his own room to finish packing.   
  
At precisely half past ten, Harry was perched on top of his trunk reading the book that Hagrid had sent him when the doorbell rang. Harry put down the book and ran to answer the door.   
  
"Hello Harry!" It was Mr. Weasley, Ron's dad.   
"Hello, Mr. Weasley!" said Harry brightly. Uncle Vernon sidled unobtrusively into the room and nodded vaguely in Mr. Weasley's direction, who beamed in reply and waved. Harry could see a dilapidated car in the driveway. Ron was waving out of the window, and his brothers, Fred and George, the twins had identical, wicked grins on their faces. Fred waved at Harry, and Harry waved in reply. "Er, Mr. Weasley, shall I go get my trunk now?"   
"Sure, shall I get one of the twins to help you?"   
"No thanks, it's okay."   
Harry went quickly to his room and dragged the trunk, with Hedwig's cage on top, out. Uncle Vernon was still in the room, looking scared out of his wits. Mr. Weasley helped Harry carry the trunk to the car, and Harry turned to wave goodbye to his uncle and to gleefully observe the shell-shocked look of horror on his face. Then he got in the car and soon, number 4, Privet Drive, was a tiny spot in the distance. 

  
Two hours of flat-out driving later, the car pulled up in front of the Weasley house, The Burrow. It was Harry's favourite place after Hogwarts, and for the first time since the beginning of the summer, he really happy. They all to out of the car, Harry feeling very hungry by now, and went inside. Mrs. Weasley led them onto the small kitchen after she had finished hugging Harry, and she told the twins to start lating the table for lunch.   
  
"Call Ginny and Hermione, will you Ron?"   
"Yeah, mum," and Ron went to the bottom of the stairs to bellow loudly to his sister to come down.   
  
After a particularly delicious lunch, Harry, Ron and Hermione went out into the garden to talk. Ron and Hermione wanted to know all about Sirius, but Harry couldn't tell them anything except that he was staying at Remus Lupin's. Hermione was very happy to find out that Harry had been made Prefect, but Ron, who hadn't received a badge, was silent. Harry noticed this and quickly changed the subject to quidditch. This cheered Ron up considerably and they all sat on the bench chatting for a long time. 

  
  


The two weeks flew by quietly, and before Harry knew it, he was standing on Platform 9 ¾, getting ready to board the Hogwarts Express.   
  
"Bye dears, just you be careful!"   
"Honestly mum, we're fifteen, we can take care of ourselves!" There was a whistle and more and more students boarded the train.   
"Well, you had better go now, train's about to leave," Mrs.Weasley observed.   
"Bye, mum!"   
"Bye, Mrs.Weasley," Harry and Hermione said in unison. And with that, they all boarded the train. 

  
Harry, Ron and Hermione managed to find an empty compartment near the back of the train and settled down. Hermione took out "An Intermediate Guide to Transfiguration" and buried herself in that. Harry and Ron discussed quidditch tactics. Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Keeper, and Katie Bell, ine of their Chasers had left, and Ron was hoping to take his place in the team. They were interrupted by a knock on the door.   
  
"Come in!" Harry called, and the door drew back to reveal a tall, pretty, golden-haired girl about their age.   
"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought this compartment was empty- all the train's full!" she said, with a distinct Irish accent. "But I'll leave now- sorry for interrupting!"   
  
She was about to close the compartment door when Hermione said quietly "You can join us if you like!" The girl turned around and grinned.   
  
"Thanks!" And with that, she promptly sat down next to Hermione. 

"Er, you seem new," Ron ventured.   
"Yeah, I'm about to start my fifth year. Used to go to Beauxbatons when my family lived in France, but now we moved back to Ireland, where I was born, and so here I am!" She grinned and added, "Oh by the way, I'm Alison McKenzie… You are?"   
"I'm Hermione Granger, that's Ron Weasley, and that's Harry Potter. We're all in the same year."   
As soon as Hermione mentioned Harry's name Alison stared and her eyes, which were almost unnaturally blue, performed the usual rove to Harry's forehead. He pulled back his fringe and pointed to his scar. "See?"   
"Wow!" she said as she grinned again. "Pleased to meet you all!"   
  
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. 

It was Draco Malfoy and his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, who stayed outside because they didn't fit in the compartment.   
  
"Well, if it isn't Potty, Mudblood and the Weasel! And who's this? A new addition to your group of losers?" sneered Malfoy.   
"Shove off Malfoy," Ron spat.   
"Wasn't talking to you, was I?" He turned to Alison. "You shouldn't go and make friends with a bunch of mudbloods and muggle-lovers. Name's Draco Malfoy," he added, his smirk growing wider.   
"Oh, and I suppose I should make friends with you?" said Alison smoothly, trying hard not to laugh. "Well, I prefer muggle-borns and muggle-lovers to a pathetic slimy git and those two tree-trunks that he calls friends! Please leave!"   
"You'll be sorry, muggle-lover!"   
"Yeah, yeah, now get out, you greasy bag of slime!" And with that, Alison kicked Malfoy out into the corridor and shut the compartment door. 

"Wow, Alison! You managed it kick Malfoy out and you're a girl!" Ron said in amazement.   
"Yeah? So what if I'm a girl? Who is that creep anyway?" Alison sat down and began to rummage in her bag. She finally took out a wand.   
"Why are you taking your wand out?" Harry asked curiously.   
"In case that greasebag decides to come again."   
"Oh. OK."   
"So anyway, who is that creep who has he guts to tell me with who to speak to?"   
"Draco Malfoy, number one pain in the neck," Hermione said, not taking her eyes off her book.   
"Slytherin?"   
"You got it."   
"Oh."   
"Noticed that he's a Prefect?" Harry asked. No-one had.   
"So what?" Ron said. "That doesn't change the fact that he's a prize idiot!"   
"Agreed!" Alison said loudly with a large grin on her face. 

  
At about noon, a witch with a trolley stopped by their compartment to sell sweets. Harry bought a mountain of Chocolate Frogs and Alison contented herself with a box of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans. Ron snatched a couple of Chocolate Frogs and Hermione bought a box of Toothflossing Stringmints (her parents were dentists). Alison rummaged a bit in her bag and pulled out a book.   
  
"What's that?" Hermione asked curiously.   
"A muggle book. It's really good." Alison said "Ugh, spinach!" she added, referring to the Every-Flavour Beans.   
"The Fellowship of the Ring," Hermione read slowly from the cover. "Oh, I've heard of that… My parents couldn't stop going on about what a good film it was."   
"Oh I know! It was fantastic! And such good-looking actors too!" Alison said ecstatically, blushing a bright red.   
"May I borrow it when you're through with it?"   
"Yeah, sure." 

  
The journey went by and it seemed only a few minutes when Harry pulled on his Hogwarts robes and they got ready to get off the train. It was dark outside in Hogsmeade, but Harry could see Rubeus Hagrid towering up, holding an old lantern and shouting "Firs' years! Firs' years please line up here!"   
"I don't really count as a first year, do I?" Alison asked nervously.   
"I don't think so. But you do have to get sorted." Hermione said.   
"Oh."   
"I'm going to say hello to Hagrid. We'll ask him about it," said Harry, and he walked over to Hagrid.   
"Well, hello there Harry, Ron, Hermione!" Hagrid beamed down at them through his black beard.   
"Hi Hagrid!"   
"An' who's this new girl, eh?"   
"I'm Alison. Pleased to meet you!"   
"Oh, yeah, I forgot… Hagrid, does Alison have to go with the first-years to get sorted?"   
"Nah, Harry. Professor McGonagall said summat abou' a new girl. She'll talk to Alison soon as she gets to Hogwarts."   
"Thanks Hagrid, see you around!"   
"Bye, take care… Firs' years over here!" 


	3. The First Night

Chapter 3- The First Night  
  
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Alison clambered onto an empty horseless carriage, which was their usual means of transport from Hogsmeade station to Hogwarts. Alison was now visibly trembling and her cheerfulness had vanished. She jumped at small noises and wrung her wrists, until Hogwarts came into view. She stared open-mouthed at the magnificent castle and Hermione laughed. It was the same look that every new student wore when he or she looked at Hogwarts for the first time. Finally, Alison managed to come out of her trance. "Blimey!" she said weakly.   
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Hermione said fondly.   
"Beauxbatons was wonderful, but this is… I can't find words!"   
Ron sniggered. "Yeah, but you will soon! Just you wait till you get to your common room every evening carrying loads of homework! Then you'll spit on its walls!"   
"Ron!" Harry said half-laughing.   
"Joking, Harry!"   
"I thought so! It can't possibly be horrible!" Alison said excitedly, "I can't wait!" 

  
A few minutes later, the procession of horseless carriages drew up, one by one, in front of the entrance of Hogwarts. They all got out and walked inside, Alison lagging behind, staring. Professor McGonagall, a tall, stern, bespectacled witch was waiting near the door and she pounced on Alison as she walked slowly in.   
"You must be Alison McKenzie," she said with a small smile. Professor McGonagall didn't smile much.   
"Errrrr… Y-yes," Alison stammered. Ron, looking behind him, caught Alison talking to Professor McGonagall and he gestured to Harry and Hermione to turn back.   
"Hello, Professor!" Hermione said brightly.   
"Hello, Granger, Potter, Weasley. McKenzie, please follow me, you have to get sorted with the first-years."   
"Right, Professor," with a weak smile at her new friends. "See you all later!"   
"Hope you're in Gryffindor!" said Ron.   
"Oh, that reminds me! Potter, Granger, you come with me. I need to talk to the Prefects about their duties."   
"OK, Professor. Ron, keep us a place, will you?"   
"OK, bye for now!" And he walked away to the Great Hall. 

Professor McGonagall led Alison, Harry, and Hermione to the small room where the first-years usually waited before they were sorted, and told Alison to stay with them till she came back. Alison smiled weakly, gave a small wave, and went in, leaving Professor McGonagall outside in the corridor with Harry and Hermione. She turned to talk to them.   
"Now Potter, Granger! You two have been chosen as the new Gryffindor Prefects, which is great honour," She sounded like she had rehearsed the speech many times. "The password to your common room is _Locomotor Mortis_. You have the ability to remove points from any rule-breaker's house. See that you are as fair as possible."   
"Yes, Professor!" Hermione said eagerly. Harry nodded. He wasn't so sure that being a Prefect was going to be a walk in the park.   
"Well, that's basically it. Any questions?" She didn't wait for any, but continued immediately. "Come to me if you need any help."   
"Yes, Professor, thanks."   
"Well, goodbye. I have to go to do the Sorting."   
Harry and Hermione started to walk slowly to the Great Hall in silence. Harry was wondering if he'd make a good Prefect, but he drove the thought out of his mind when he remembered that Alison was being Sorted.   
"We're going to miss the Sorting!" he cried and they ran to the Great Hall as fast as they could. 

  
They got in the Great Hall just in time. The Sorting Hat had finished its yearly song and Professor McGonagall was leading the first-years out. Alison was at the very back, looking very nervous and out of place. Harry and Hermione sat down in the seats Ron had reserved for them. Professor McGonagall began the Sorting with "Appleton, Lacey", who was sorted into Hufflepuff. One by one, the first-years were sorted into their houses and at last, it was Alison's turn.   
"McKenzie, Alison!" The girl stumbled forward and at Professor McGonagall put the Sorting Hat over her head. Hermione crossed her fingers under the table and Harry and Ron leant forward expectantly. Some students murmured to each other at the sight of a fifth-year being Sorted. There was a long silence. Evidently, the hat was finding it difficult to sort her. 

The silence was becoming unbearable, until… "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted. The tenseness vanished as the Gryffindor table erupted, clapping and cheering. Alison skipped over to the place Ron had reserved for her just in case. She was very happy.   
"I made it!" she said ecstatically.   
"Yeah, welcome to Gryffindor!" Ron said, grinning.   
"Dumbledore's getting up," Harry said quietly.   
The old wizard got up slowly, and immediately, silence fell. "Well, the beginning of a new school year!" he said jovially. "And here we all are, waiting to eat! Well, I will not interfere with your h0unger! Let the feast begin!" He clapped his hands and food appeared instantly on the empty golden plates.   
"Cor blimey!" Alison exclaimed, "This is great!" And she began to attack a large chicken leg, clearly enjoying herself. When they had all eaten and dunk until they burst, Dumbledore stood up again. 

  
"Now that you are all well-fed, I would like to give a few start-of-term notices," he said. " All first-years kindly note that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students. Also, Voldemort," -several students flinched on hearing the name- "is on the loose. I would like you all to avoid being out at night, save for Astronomy classes, and it is also imperative that you are vigilant. Also, I have great pleasure in announcing your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Mundungus Fletcher!"   
A rather untidy-looking wizard got up, smiled, and sat down again. He looked clever, but forgetful. However, Harry thought inexplicably, that there was something different about him, like he had a secret to hide. He shook the thought off, and applauded politely along with all the other students.   
"I wonder what he'll be like," he said to Ron.   
"Can't be any worse than Lockhart!" Ron replied.   
"Ron!" Hermione said, with a slight pink tinge in her cheeks.   
"Oh yeah, I forgot… You like him don't you?"   
"Shut up. I don't!" Hermione said. She sounded like she was lying.   
"Oh, cut it out, you two!" Alison said lazily.   
Dumbledore began to speak again. "That will be all. Goodnight!" He clapped his hands again and all the food vanished from the golden plates, leaving them sparkling clean. 

Slowly, the Great Hall began to empty as the students filed out. Harry and Hermione helped the sixth-year Prefects lead the first-years to the common room and to tell them their password. 

"Ah, the common room at last!" Ron said, sleepily.

"Wow! This is so cool!" Alison said, sinking down into one of the armchairs next to the fire.

"Err, aren't you supposed to be sleepy?" Harry and Hermione had joined them.

"Yeah, I am, in fact! Where do I sleep?"

"I'll take you to the girls' dormitory. I expect there'll be a bed ready for you there," Hermione said. They said goodnight to the boys and left.

"Ever seen such a live wire?" said Ron to Harry.

"Alison?"

"No, Professor Snape! Of course I was talking about Alison!"

"She's OK."

"Yeah, she is. Let's go to sleep now, I'm dead tired." And they retreated to their own dormitory to sleep.


	4. Potions and Phoenixes

Chapter 4- Potions and Phoenixes   
  
The next day dawned bright and clear. Harry and Ron got up and went down into the common room to find Hermione and Alison waiting for them beside the fireplace. 

"Good morning, sleepyheads!" Hermione called brightly as she saw the boys dazedly going down the stairs. 

"Yeah, it's about time you two got up, we've been up since seven!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Ron said, sleepily.

"Come on, let's go down to breakfast."

They went down into the Great Hall, and Hermione made it a point to ask Professor McGonagall for four timetables, which she passed out to her friends. 

"Damn, double Potions with the Slytherins first!" Ron exclaimed in horror.

"So?" Alison asked curiously.

"Are you kidding? Malfoy's a Slytherin, and the teacher, Professor Snape, is head of Slytherin house! He loves that greasy git and he hates all of us Gryffindors, especially Harry here." Ron made a gesture towards Harry.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad!"

"You just wait," Ron said darkly.

They finished their breakfasts silently, and they went back up to the common room to fetch their Potions books and their cauldrons. Then, they went down to the dungeons, running a little, because Hermione kept complaining that they were going to be late. In fact, they were very early, so they waited in the corridor for more students to come. Alison shivered. "Is always so cold down here?" 

"Yeah, it's much worse in winter. Snape never lights a fire except to put a ruddy cauldron on it," Ron said.

"Oh." 

At that moment, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle turned up, to their disgust. "Well, Potty and Granger, Prefects eh? I wouldn't have thought that a Mudblood and a pathetic suck-up could have the privilege of becoming Prefects!" he drawled by way of greeting, "But that muggle-loving fool, Dumbledore would make his pet Potter a Prefect!"

"Eat dung, Malfoy," Ron growled.

"Oh, and I've noticed that Weasley isn't a Prefect. What's the matter, you too poor enough to own a gold badge without selling it to feed your family?" Ron and Harry made a furious lunge at Malfoy, but Hermione and Alison held them back.

At that moment, Snape came, followed by a few more students. "Dear, dear," he said silkily, "Already fighting on your first day? Ten points from Gryffindor." Then he noticed Harry's badge. "Oh, you're a Prefect, Potter? Better make it another ten points from Gryffindor, then! In, all of you!" he growled at the remaining students. They all traipsed in the cold dungeon, shivering. Snape took a few more points from Gryffindor for no reason at all, and he began with the lesson.

"Today, we will make an Invisibility Potion. Turn your books to page 473 and begin." He paused, then continued. "McKenzie, please stand up and tell us all what you were saying to Granger." Alison had been whispering something to Hermione out of the corner of her mouth and she jumped when she heard her name mentioned. She stood up, almost defiantly, and said "Well, I was telling Hermione that we've done Invisibility Potions at Beauxbatons, my old school, only with different ingredients to those mentioned in the book." 

"Oh, really?" Snape said smoothly. Hermione, sensing danger, pulled at Alison's robes and gave her a 'don't-cross-him' look. "Well, McKenzie, I want you to make it the way you made it in Beauxbatons, and then, you will try it. Then, we'll all see if it really works." Alison sat down, frowning.

The Slytherins, especially Malfoy, laughed cruelly as Alison strode over to the students' store cupboard and deftly pulled out some jars. She walked over to her table and calmly placed the ingredients on it. Snape watched her for a while as she lit a fire under her cauldron and then he snapped to the rest of the class: "Well, get going on your potions!" There was an immediate shuffle as books were opened, fires lit, and as students queued to get their ingredients from the store cupboard. Through the noise and movement, Alison stood poring over her cauldron, adding ingredients, occasionally stirring, and feeling the temperature with her finger. Harry, Ron, and Hermione immediately got to work mixing their own potions.

"Lacewing flies, hair from a demiguise pelt, billywig stings," Ron checked off on his fingers, frowning. I think it's all in there, isn't it Harry?"

"You forgot the flobberworm mucus, Ron," Hermione said irritably.

"Oh yeah. Thanks!" 

After half an hour, everyone finished making their Invisibility Potions, and Neville put the battered mop back in its place (he had spilt half his potion on the floor when he tripped on some flobberworm mucus). Snape went round the class, sneering at the Gryffindors' potion, occasionally complimenting a Slytherin, and telling all the class how perfect Draco Malfoy's potion was, even though Hermione's was much better. Finally he advanced to Alison's table.

"And let us all see if McKenzie has managed to sucessfully produce an Invisibility Potion," he said icily, as he set a small tumbler on Alison's desk, "Well, drink it!" he snapped. Alison hurriedly ladled some of the blue potion into the glass, drank a sip, and then… she disappeared into thin air. Snape was looking murderous as the Gryffindors cheered and the Slytherins cursed. "Where are you, McKenzie?" he barked.

"Sitting on the stool next to your desk, Professor," came Alison's voice from a spindly stool near Snape's desk. It wobbled slightly with her invisible weight, and Harry wondered when the potion would wear off. Snape strode over to the desk.

"How much potion did you drink, McKenzie?" he asked softly.

"Oh, just a sip. It'll wear off any moment now!" Alison's bodiless voice replied brightly. Sure enough, there was the tiniest of pops and Alison reappeared, sitting on the stool, grinning mischieviously. Snape looked like he was about to kill her, Harry thought. 

"Twenty-five points from Gryffindor, McKenzie," Snape said even more softly. All the Gryffindors stared, outraged. 

"But, Professor, she got her Potion right!" 

"Shut up, Weasley. Do you want me to remove more points from Gryffindor?"

Harry nudged Ron and gestured for him to be quiet. 

"Class dismissed,' said Snape coldly, motioning to the door. There was furious rummaging as everyone stuffed their books into their bags, and ladled their potions into glass vials. Moments later, the class was empty.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Alison waited until they were out of earshot, and then Ron began to curse every inch of Snape's miserable body. Alison's calmness and cheerfulness had vanished. She was silent, looked tired, and kept rubbing her eyes. 

"I hate Potions with Snape!" she suddenly exclaimed.

"Don't we all," said Harry monotonously.

"Well, it's Herbology after dinner, maybe we can get more points then," Hermione said.

"When's Defence Against the Dark Arts?" Ron asked.

"Today's Monday… said Harry, glancing at his timetable, "So it's tomorrow, Tuesday."

"Good. I hope Professor Fletcher's a good teacher!" Hermione said anxiously.

"I've heard his name before… It sounds very familiar," said Harry frowning.

"So have I," Hermione said, "I believe he was one of the people Dumbledore told Sirius to alert after… you know…" her voice trailed off.

"Yeah, you're right!" Ron said, as they reached the Great Hall, "I'm famished, let's hurry up and sit down!"

After a delicious dinner, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Alison headed down to the greenhouses on the castle grounds. The Gryffindor fifth-years took their Herbology lessons with the Hufflepuffs. Professor Sprout, their Herbology teacher, was head of Hufflepuff house, but she wasn't as biased as Snape and treated them all fairly. Hermione found it easy to gain points for Gryffindor that lesson - they were planting Muffapod seeds, little furry seeds that kept changing colour. After an hour and a half, Professor Sprout dismissed them, and they all left the greenhouse, hot, sweaty and full of earth. Harry felt much better when he looked at the giant hourglasses in the Entrance Hall, which showed that Gryffindor had the most points out of all the houses.

"Thank God," said Alison, as she studied the Gryffindor hourglass, "I felt really guilty, taking twenty-five points off Gryffindor on my very first lesson!" 

"Oh well, we've got them back now. C'mon, let's go wash- I'm boiling!" Ron puffed impatiently.

"An hour later, they were all back in the Gryfffindor Common Room, warming up in front of the fire. It had begun to rain.

"Funny," Harry said, "It was nice weather this morning!"

"Yeah…" Ron's voice trailed off.

"What?"

"What's that?!?" Ron said, pointing out of the window. 

"Mae! I've been waiting for Dad to send her over! " Alison shrieked, as she jumped out of her armchair, raced to the window, and threw it open. Harry couldn't see what she was doing very well, but she drew back, and perched on her arm was…

"A Phoenix?" There was no mistaking the beautiful red and gold feathers. There was silence in all the Common Room. The only movement was that of Alison's hand, which was stroking the Phoenix's wet back. It let out a long, quavering note, and Alison shut the window, sat down on an armchair, still stoking the Phoenix. Fred Weasley was the first to speak.

"Cool!"

This was like a trigger for all the students to talk and point at the Phoenix. Alison was still stroking the Phoenix, mesmerised, occasionally murmuring something to it. Harry, Ron and Hermione approached her. 

"I've never seen a Phoenix before… It's so beautiful!" crooned Hermione.

"It looks just like Dumbledore's, eh Harry?" said Ron. He and Harry had seen Dumbledore's Phoenix, Fawkes.

"Yeah."

"From where did you get her?" Hermione asked.

"My dad goes to China occasionally to catch Phoenixes and tame them. We usually have about two of them at home, not counting Mae here," she said, fondling the Phoenix, "I didn't bring her with me on the train because she would attract too much attention in the Muggle Station."

"Can I- can I touch her?" Hermione said timidly.

"Of course you can- as long as you're gentle." Hermione hesitantly put out her hand and stroked the Phoenix on her back.

"She's wet!" she cried.

"Of course she is, she was flying in the rain, numbskull!" snapped Ron.

"Who are you calling numbskull?" said Hermione shrilly.

"Me!"

"Look who's talking!"

"I'm taking Mae up into the dormitory… Do you mind her Hermione?"

"No, go ahead!"

"Thanks," And with that, Alison let the Phoenix go, and it flew up the stairs behind her, singing its beautiful, but eerie song.


	5. Defence Against the Dark Arts

Chapter 5- Defence Against the Dark Arts

Harry woke up late the next morning to his dormitory empty, and a note pinned to his four-poster curtains. 

Harry, [it read]

Went down for breakfast. Meet us in the Great Hall when you wake up. 

Ron

He dressed quickly and ran to the Great Hall, where he found Hermione, Ron, and Alison finisihing off their breakfast. "About bloody time!" Ron said as he saw Harry dash in.

"Here's some toast," said Hermione, handing Harry a slice of toast.

"Though you don't deserve it, sleepyhead!" Alison said, through a mouthful of bacon.

"Yeah, yeah. Oh, thanks Hermione! What's first lesson?" Harry asked.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts. Better not be late!"

"Oh, yeah."

They finished their breakfast in silence, and then they headed down to their Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. There was already a small queue of students near the door.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Alison got in line behind the other Gryffindors. It seemed like ages to Harry till Professor Fletcher came. He unlocked the door, without a word, and beckoned to the students to enter. As they all found their places and took out their books, he calmly seated himself behind his desk and waited. A few minutes later, there was silence. The old Professor still hadn't got up from his desk. He was surveying his students with an air of amusement. 

"What's his problem?" Ron whispered to Harry.

"Dunno, I think he's lost it."

Just then, the Professor stood up and said in a hoarse voice: "Curses." The whole class was staring open-mouthed at the old man. A few were shaking in silent laughter. Alison snorted, and immediately pretended to have a coughing fit. 

"Is that all he has to say?" she whispered to Hermione.

"Shh! I might miss something!" Hermione snapped back.

Professor Fletcher repeated: "Curses." The room was so quiet, Harry could feel the silence reverberating off the walls. Then, as though he had snapped out of a trance, Professor Fletcher's face softened into a smile and he seemed to become a different person altogether. "This term, we will be learning more about curses and how to block them. I believe you know quite a bit about curses and jinxes, your last teacher taught you well." He paused, looked around the silent room with relish, and continued. "However, due to recent events, you must learn even more advanced means of protecting yourselves. Now that Voldemort…" He stopped abruptly, as many students let out gasps and muttered among themselves. "I find it very stupid to call Voldemort You-Know-Who, so I always call him by name. Now where was I? Oh, yes… now that Voldemort has risen again, the need for constant vigilance has never been urgent. Therefore, I will do my best to educate you in the best methods of self-defence, should you ever be in any need to defend yourselves." The whole class was quiet, hanging on to his every word. 

"Turn to page 572 of your books. Today we will be learning the Paraclitus Curse. It will paralyze anyone who is hit by it temporarily. I hope you have all brought your wands with you, as you will be trying it out later on in the lesson." And so, the lesson began. Harry had to admit that it was quite interesting, and that Professor Fletcher was a very good Professor. Ron didn't think so, though.

"Stupid Para-thingy Curse!" he said furiously, as he munched on his roast potatoes during dinner, "My back will never be the same again!"

"I think his lesson was marvellous," said Hermione. 

"Typical. You always think lessons are marvellous," Ron said, as he reached for his goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Shut up!"

"Shut up yourself, Hermione!"

"Ooh, I'll get you Ron! See if I don't!" Harry choked on his own pumpkin juice. Seeing Ron and Hermione arguing was very funny indeed. Next to him, Alison snorted into her tomato soup.

"Honestly, I believe you two will actually kill each other someday!" she said pulling Hermione away from Ron. The other Gryffindors weren't really interested. The sight of Ron and Hermione fighting was a very common one.

"Err, we had better get going if we plan to get to Divination in time," Harry said cautiously, to try and change the subject. He could almost see daggers flying between Ron and Hermione's eyes. 

"Yeah Hermione! It's time for Arithmancy… I really want to get to my first lesson!" Alison said, a bit unconvincingly, as she pulled Hermione away from the table. "Bye Harry, Ron!" she added, smiling weakly.

Divination was boring, as usual. Professor Trelawney predicted Harry's death thirteen times during the lesson, but even though that put her in a decidedly good mood, it didn't stop her from giving them a lot of homework. Seamus and Ron cursed all the way to the common room, and there they found Hermione and Alison warming their hands by the crackling fire.  
"Hello, Harry! Hello Ron," Hermione said. Harry noticed that she said the word 'Ron' with something like distaste. 

"Err, hi Hermione… Shouldn't you be doing your homework?" Harry asked.

"Oh, Professor Vector didn't give us any!" Alison said brightly, picking up her copy of 'The Fellowship of the Ring' and opening it. "Oh, by the way Hermione, I'm on the last chapter of this book. You'll have it very soon." She buried herself in the book.

"I don't feel like doing my homework right now Harry, let's do it tomorrow, eh?" said Ron.

"Yeah. I'm dead tired. Let's go dump our books in the dormitory. Keep us a place Hermione!" he called, as he and Ron went up the spiral staircase.

By the time that they had gone down to the common room, Alison's chair was empty. "Where is she?" Harry asked Hermione. 

"She's gone to our dormitory to give Mae something to eat."

"Oh," At that moment, Alison came clattering down the stairs.

"Sorry I took long, Mae was positively famished!" she said picking up her book again. "How was Divination?" 

"Boring, as usual," Ron said, "Professor Trelawny said that Harry was going to have very bad luck this week."

"Yeah, she said I was going to die young about twenty times." 

"What a dingbat. Thank God I don't take Divination- load of rubbish, if you ask me… No offence, of course!" 

"None taken. We think it's a cartload of dung too." Harry said, helping himself to a Chocolate Frog from the box of sweets Hermione was passing round. Fred and George were passing several brightly-coloured sweets round too- several Gryffindors were growing horns or claws.

"They work!" the twins were saying in glee, amidst all the screams and yells. 

"Stupid of them really, to take sweets from Fred and George," said Ron matter-of-factly.

"Are they going to be okay?" said Alison, who had never really seen the twins' pranks.

"Yeah, the spells always wear off after a while. They want to open a joke shop, you know… Hey, watch it, Fred!" Fred had elbowed Ron out of the way and come to Alison with a tray full of innocent-looking toffees. 

"Want a toffee, Alison?"

"Sure, I'll have one… when I feel like turning into a rhino, that is! You're not going to fool me, Fred. I'm not that stupid!"

"Damn. Have you been telling her not to accept sweet form us, Ron? Thanks a lot, idiot. Now we can't try out our sweets on her!"

"Ha, thank God he told me, Fred!"

"Yeah, yeah," Fred said as he sloped off to offer more sweets to a group of unsuspecting first-years.

* * * * *

The rest of the week passed very quickly. Harry and his friends settled down comfortably into the Hogwarts routine. Harry enjoyed every second of it. To him, Hogwarts was home. There was no other place in the world that he loved so much, and he quickly forgot life at the Dursleys'. The only thing that Harry didn't really like about this year was being a Prefect. He hated having to remove points from other students' houses, but he couldn't really not do his duty. He was seriously considering resigning and giving his badge to Professor McGonagall. Somehow, Harry felt that he didn't deserve the badge. However, his doubts on being a Prefect was cast aside a couple of weeks after the start of term, as he climbed through the portrait hole one evening, to find a large group of Gryffindors crowding excitedly round the notice-board. 

"What's the matter?" he asked Alison, who was trying to fight her way out of the crowd of chattering Gryffindors after having seen the notice.

"Quidditch," she said, jabbing her thumb towards the excited group, "They're having trials and Madam Hooch's electing team captain tomorrow. You'd better go see for yourself… Though I guess you'd have a hard time actually getting to the notice," she added, her eyebrows raised. 

Harry got up quickly and half-ran to the to join the crowd, pushing his way through it, until he finally managed to locate a rather crumpled piece of parchment, on which was printed in red and gold ink:

QUIDDITCH TRIALS FOR A CHASER AND A KEEPER WILL BE HELD ON THURSDAY AT 5.00. ANYONE INTERESTED IN JOINING SHOULD BRING HIS/HER BROOMSTICK TO THE QUIDDITCH PITCH. THE GRYFINDOR TEAM CAPTAIN WILL BE ELECTED TOMORROW BY MADAM HOOCH AT 5.30 ON THE QUIDDITCH PITCH. PLEASE BE PUNCTUAL.

Having read the notice four times over and learnt it off by heart, Harry fought his way out of the dwindling crowd of Gryffindors, to the couch where Alison was sitting, chatting animatedly to Ron and Hermione, who had joined her. "…I hope I'll get on the team… I was a Chaser at Beauxbatons, but the teams there were total rubbish- no sense of direction at all! I hardly expect to shine here- I saw the Ravenclaw team practising on the quidditch pitch yesterday and they were absolutely brilliant! Oh, hi Harry," Alison grinned, as she moved over for Harry to sit down, "Did you read the notice?" 

"Yeah. I wonder who the captain will be- Katie Bell, probably. Who's trying out for the team?"

"I am," said Alison.

"Me too," said Ron.

"Hermione?"

"No. I like quidditch, but it'll interfere with my studies." Ron snorted, and immediately turned it into a hacking cough.


	6. The Quidditch Captain

Chapter 6- The Quidditch Captain 

The next day, Tuesday, dawned bright and clear. From the moment Harry got up that morning, he felt butterflies in his stomach. This was stupid, he insisted to himself, Katie was bound to be the team captain, so why was he excited? But maybe, just maybe, he could be team captain. No, surely not, Katie was there longer than him- she was more experienced, and a better player-was she?

These thoughts kept nagging him at the back of his head, but he tried to push them away as he went down to breakfast. Ron and Alison were still seated at the Gryffindor table. Alison had finished her breakfast, and Ron was bolting down a bowl of 'Wizard Weetabix' cereal, while trying to converse with her. "Morning Harry," he said thickly, through a cup of coffee. 

"Morning Ron, Alison," Harry said, reaching for a plate of toast on the other side of the table. "Where's Hermione?"

"I don't think she's up yet. Here, I'll help you with that," said Alison, handing Harry two slices of toast.

"It's not usual of Hermione to get up late," observed Harry, buttering a slice of toast and taking a bite out of it.

"She stayed up late reading. I'll go and see if she's up soon."

"Yeah, good idea. Pass the jam please, Ron."

"Here." At that moment, Hermione walked into the Great Hall, looking furious. She strode over to the Gryffindor table.

"Can you believe it, I overslept!" she said.

"Good-morning to you too, Hermione!"

"Shut up Ron, I'm in a bad mood," the girl flashed back, fuming.

"Oh shut up yourself, Hermione… I don't feel like you whining when I'm half-asleep!" said Ron lazily.

"Oh, it's all about you, is it? Why don't you try to consider being selfless for a while?" she said, quite unaware that she was being as selfish as Ron was.

"I like that! Who stomps in, and bites at any person who happens to comment on her bad mood?" And so on they raged. Alison got up without a word, gathered her books, and left. Harry didn't want to be left with two furious people, so he followed her. Ron and Hermione didn't even notice that Harry and Alison weren't there.

"How I hate it when those two fight like that!" Alison said hotly, when Harry caught up with her as she left the Great Hall. "It's like they aren't anything less than two little children."

"Even though they argue so much, they're really good friends."

"And that's what makes me so angry at the both of them! You'd think they hated each other!" cried Alison, as Hermione stalked up to them in a huff.

"I hate him!"

"Come off it Hermione, you like him as much as we do, now go and make up," Alison scolded good-naturedly.

"He should apologise to me! I didn't start it!"

"That's your problem both of you! You're so obstinate, you just don't get it, do you?"

"Well, he's being a beast."

"And you're being just as beastly as he is," Harry put in helpfully.

"Not you too, Harry!"

"Yeah, him too Hermione. I'm not trying to pick on you… in my opinion, you're both wrong, but someone's got to give in, and it might as well be you!"

"But that's not fair, he started it!" Hermione's voice became shriller and shriller and people were starting to look at the three of them standing in the second-floor corridor curiously. 

"Yeah, and wouldn't it be more of a blow to him if you went up and said sorry? He wouldn't expect it, Hermione."

"He'll gloat."

"No, he won't. Ron's not that type," said Harry.

"Well, I'm going to try, but if you two are wrong…" her voice trailed off as she walked away from them to the Gryffindor common room.

"Should we follow her?" Harry asked Alison. 

"Nah, they'll be allright. And we'd better get going- we're going to be late for Transfiguration if we don't get a move on soon!" And they traipsed upstairs to Transfiguration.

Hermione and Ron were on speaking terms by teatime, but the butterflies in Harry's stomach had returned. Ron, Hermione and Alison would be going to the quidditch pitch with him in half an hour's time, because Alison and Ron needed to practise for the trials in two days' time. Half an hour later, they were plodding silently over the lawns to the quidditch pitch. The four of them were very excited. Ron tried to hum a tune, but Hermione stepped on his foot and pretended it was an accident. When they finally arrived at the pitch, Harry waved goodbye, gave them all a very watery smile, and went into the changing rooms, where the rest of the team was already gathered, chatting excitedly. Madam Hooch hadn't arrived yet. 

"Oi, Harry!" It was Fred. "I kept you a place next to me- George hogged it though… Budge up, George, you pig!"

"Mind your language, Fred!" said George with mischievous grin. At that moment, Madam Hooch barged in the changing room. 

"Good evening, boys and girls!" There was some scattered muttering of "Good evening," and silence. Madam Hooch cleared her throat, and continued.

"The notice on your notice board said I was electing the team Captain, but I guess I've already made my decision!" She looked around the room. All the Gryffindor team were on the edge of their seats. Harry could feel the anticipation pounding around the room. He wished Madam Hooch would just get on with it and tell them that Katie Bell was to be the Gryffindor Captain. "The new Gryffindor team captain will be…"

"…Harry Potter!" Harry came down to earth in a quick jolt. He felt like someone had slapped him.

"W-w-what?" He didn't have time to wait for the answer- Fred and George had lifted him up on their shoulders and everyone was laughing and congratulating Harry. 

It was like a dream. Fred and George burst out of the changing room singing an Irish drinking song, Harry still on their shoulders. Ron and Alison were on their brooms, practising diving, and Hermione was in the stands, biting her nails. As the jovial party went out into the field, Ron stared, gave a large whoop of delight, landed on the smooth turf and ran as fast as he could towards the singing group. Alison nearly fell off her broom in amazement and then she burst into peals of laughter that rang out to all the pitch. She joined the group, still trembling with unstoppable laughter. Hermione was already there, in shock, hardly knowing what to do or say.

It seemed like a few seconds till they were in the Common Room. Everyone was shouting, celebrating, laughing… and Harry had finally come to realise the fact that he was actually the team Captain. His dazed look melted away, and soon he was laughing like the others. Fred and George had snuck down to the kitchen and brought great flagons of Butterbeer, and soon every one was tucking in. Harry felt out of breath, so he tried to fight his way out of the crowd. As he managed to get into a corner, he came face-to-face with Alison, who was sipping on a glass of Butterbeer. "Congratulations, Harry," she said, and, much to Harry's surprise, she gave him the tiniest of hugs. She drew away suddenly. "Here, let me go refill your glass. Mine's empty anyway." And she went away, both of their glasses in hand.


	7. The Trials

****

Chapter 7- The Trials

The day after the celebrations, Harry was up and about quite early. He hadn't slept much the night before, partly because he was so excited about being quidditch captain, and partly because he didn't know what to do now that he was in that position. The quidditch trials were to be held the day after, and Harry was very bewildered. How was he going to test all the Gryffindors who were trying out? He decided to get dressed, and wait for Katie Bell or Alicia Spinnet, the Gryffindor Chasers. 

Harry was the first Gryffindor at the breakfast table. Some Ravenclaws were up, puffy-eyed, and silent as they sipped cups if steaming coffee. Harry buttered himself a piece of toast, and munched on it, thinking about his quidditch troubles till the Weasley twins barged noisily into the Great Hall, waking him from his sleepy stupor.

"Morning, boss!" George said brightly, as he poured some tea into a cup and added sugar to it.

"Shut up, George…" Harry groaned.

"So, how are we going to kick the Slytherins' butt this year?" asked Fred wickedly, grabbing a flagon of pumpkin juice.

"Er…"

"And the trials?" George put in.

"I'm asking Katie and Alicia about that…"

"Yeah, Katie'll help. You could ask her to judge the trials with you."

"Yeah… Thanks, Fred."

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Ron, Hermione and Alison. Ron was puffy-eyed and tousle-haired, and the girls didn't look very awake either. However, after a good breakfast, they were all much more invigorated, and they got up from the breakfast table much more animatedly than they had sat down. They had Transfiguration all morning, where Professor McGonagall was teaching them how to turn a fur coat into a rabbit, and they were all very tired when they finally sat down to dinner (Ron was complaining about how his rabbit had coat fastenings down its back). Harry decided to sit next to Katie Bell and ask her how Quidditch trials were held, and she agreed to help. Ron and Alison bolted down some steak and mashed potatoes and hurried out of the room to practice their flying. Hermione ate slowly, her head buried in a thick book, and after thanking Katie, Harry decided to go early to their next lesson, Care of Magical Creatures, and have a chat with Hagrid. He dashed up to the common room for his books and then made his way to Hagrid's hut on the school grounds. Hagrid was chopping firewood round the back of his hut.

"Afternoon, Harry. Yeh're early!" puffed Hagrid, wiping his forehead and leaning on his axe. 

"Hello, Hagrid. Sorry if I'm bothering you or anything, I just thought I'd come early and say hello."

"Harry, I gotta bone ter pick with yeh… I met Ron and that new girl, whats-her-name, Alison. They were going down ter the pitch. Ron said summat about you being quidditch captain. Harry!"

"Yeah."

"Now that's yer problem- yeh're too modest! It's great news! Oh, wait a minute, aren't those students coming out of the castle? My lesson! Could yeh help me with those crates over there, Harry? We're doing Billywigs today. Yeah, over there… Thanks!" he panted as he carried three crates on each of his giant arms to the fenced paddock not far from the hut. By this time, many Gryffindors and Slytherins had gathered by the paddock. Many were throwing their bags onto the ground. Hermione's head was still buried in the book that she had been reading during dinner- Harry wouldn't have been surprised if she'd ever looked up from it since he left her. Ron and Alison were sprawled on the turf, having an animated conversation on quidditch and broomsticks, their books still not out of their bags. It was just as well- Hagrid announced that they would not be needing them. He put them into pairs and made them tie a piece of string to the Billywigs' sting and fly them. The lesson was progressing well, until Malfoy and his cronies decided to torture a poor little Billywig by tying the string too tight, but Hagrid corrected them and pretended not to notice as both Alison and Ron made very rude signs behind Malfoy's back. ("Little slime," Ron muttered furiously as Malfoy made a face at Hagrid.)

The lesson flew and it seemed like no time till they were up in the castle again, bolting down supper and deciding what homework to do. Back in the common room, Alison and Hermione huddled over their Arithmancy and Harry and Ron scribbled down a Transfiguration essay. Ron had the jitters about the next day's quidditch trials, but Harry told him not to worry as he scribbled down the best way to substitute Switching Charms with Elongating Spells.

* * * * * * * * * *

The next day dawned with perfect weather for flying- sunny and with the slightest hint of wind. Ron and Alison were now visibly shaken at the prospect of the trials that afternoon, and so were various Gryffindor who were trying out. Harry felt like the morning lesson, Charms, was taking ages, when the dinner bell rang and they went to eat. After an immensely boring of History of Magic, Harry, Ron, Alison and several Gryffindors made ready to go to the pitch. Hermione decided to go with them and see the trials, so she decided not to start her homework early for a change. Ron and Alison were now trembling. 

"What if I fall off my broom, Ron?"

"Nonsense, Alison, you can fly really well, but I didn't catch many Quaffles when we practiced yesterday!"

"Oh, stop it!" Hermione interjected hotly, "I'm going down to the pitch to get a good place in the stands. Harry's already left. You coming or d'you want to miss it all?" And the three of them hurried down to the pitch. Many Gryffindors were gathered on the lush green turf on the quidditch pitch, and the Gryffindor team, along with Madam Hooch were sitting in the front row of the Northern stand. Fred and George were fooling about with a couple of fake wands. Katie was explaining something to Harry, who was hanging onto her every word. Alison and Ron ran to join the crowd of excited Gryffindors, and Hermione went to sit on the Eastern stand, so as not to interfere with the Gryffindor team, and smiled as Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown came to join her. A few minutes later, Harry called to the crowd on the pitch, and told them to split up into two groups- those who were trying out for the Chaser position and those who were trying out for the place of Keeper. There were fewer people trying out for Keeper, so they tried out first. Hermione watched nervously as Alicia Spinnet walked out onto the pitch, broom and Quaffle in hand, and Ron, who was going first, mounted his Comet Two-Sixty. Alicia mounted her broom and took off, as did Ron. Alicia signaled for him to fly towards the goal posts and told him to catch the Quaffle whenever she threw it at him. Ron did surprisingly well, even though his broom was rubbish, and only failed to catch the big red ball once out of ten times. Hermione applauded loudly, as did Alison, down on the pitch. Harry smiled as Fred bent over to tell him something. Ron landed on the pitch, flushed and went over to where Hermione was sitting, his trial over.

"You were absolutely brilliant, Ron d'you know that?"

"I missed that bloody Quaffle by inches, though."

"Ah well, it was only once. I don't think many Gryffindors will be able to match that!"

And indeed, they didn't. The closest anyone got to beating Ron was a tall third-year, who managed to catch the Quaffle six times. Harry was grinning as he got up and announced the new Gryffindor Keeper- Ron Weasley. Ron went pink at the ears and said nothing as the Gryffindors applauded and cheered. Now it was the Chasers' turn. This time, Katie also joined Alicia in the air, and she explained that she would be trying to take the Quaffle away from the candidate. Alicia would pretend to be a teammate. The competitors would be judged on teamwork and their ability to avoid opponents. There were seventeen hopefuls trying out for the position of Chaser, and some were very good. Alison was sixteenth in line, and she looked sick with anxiety. Hermione called out reassuringly to her as she mounted her broom. 

Harry had never really seen Alison fly, but she was very good, he thought. She had the right build for a Chaser- tall, but lithe and supple. She looked determined to try her best, but her hands were trembling as she gripped her Nimbus Two Thousand and One. Katie signaled for the trial to start and Alicia automatically threw the Quaffle to Alison, who caught it and zoomed to the goalposts, Katie by her side. She tackled her, but Alison dodged neatly and threw the Quaffle back to Alicia, a few feet behind her. Alicia caught it and threw it back to Alison when Katie had finally dislodged herself from her. Alison caught it well again, threw it at the golden hoop a few feet away, and scored. There was a lot of clapping as she landed, waved to Harry, who waved back, and made her way towards the Eastern stand to join Hermione and Ron. After the final Gryffindor tried out, Katie and Alicia landed on the pitch and strode over to the North stand. Katie whispered something into Harry's ear, and he nodded and grinned. The Gryffindors were very quiet. Katie stood up and cleared her throat, and thanked all the Gryffindors who tried out that day. She pointed out that they had all been excellent fliers and that they had all done their best. Then she paused and continued slowly. "I have great pleasure in announcing the new Gryffindor Chaser- Alison McKenzie!" And there was thunderous applause as Alison, a bright red, sank down in her seat, grinning like a Cheshire cat. 

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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the great J.K. Rowling's characters- just the plot and perhaps some characters of my own invention, like Alison. I don't make any money off this story, and I never plan to!

Claire xxx

P.S: Thank you Darkness, for your nice reviews and support! And a thanks to you too, LittleEar BigEar's Sis! 


	8. The Phoenix Pendant

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Chapter 8 – The Phoenix Pendant

There was general aura of excitement around Ron and Alison over the next few days. Ron's homework lay forgotten, and instead, out came various books on quidditch tactics. Hermione was extremely miffed not to see him doing his schoolwork.

"_Really,_ Ron! Why don't you try doing your homework for a change?"

"Why don't you trying raising your eyes from a book sometimes? If you want to live your life buried in books, that's fine by me- only try to make me as boring as you!"

"Oh, so I'm _boring?_" Hermione cried shrilly, a sign that a very large fight was about to break out between her and Ron.

"Shut up… I'm trying to finish my Transfiguration!" Alison said, kicking both Hermione and Ron under the table.

"Ow… Stop that!"

"Well, stop it, both of you. Honestly, you behave worse than a batch of first-years!" 

"_Well!_ I can't believe you'd say that, Al-"

"You too Hermione. I thought you were more mature than to pick a fight with Ron. And you Ron, you should try concentrating a bit on your studies. Hermione's right, you've been lazing about all week- d'you want to miss all your Quidditch practice, just because Snape'll keep you in detention all term?"

"You don't understand, Alison…"

"Oh, so I don't, don't I? Well, I'll tell you something, Ron! I've managed to get in the team as well, but Quidditch, fun as it may be, isn't as important as schoolwork! Besides," she added smiling wickedly, "what curses are you going to use on Malfoy after he fouls you? It'll do you good to open your Defense against the Dark Arts and take a leaf out of Malfoy's own book!"

At that moment, Harry, who had been at the Owlery checking on Hedwig, entered the common room. "Hello!" he said brightly, as he slumped down on the table in between Hermione and Ron, who were now glowering at each other behind his back. 

"Hermione and Ron have been fighting."

"Not again?"

"Stop lecturing Harry, I only need a few more paragraphs to finish this Arithmancy essay… Keep it down for now!"

"_A few more paragraphs_? What are you trying to do, research to death?"

"Don't start again Ron…" said Alison testily, glaring over her copy of _Advanced Transfiguration_. When the argument showed no sign of dying down, she slammed her book shut, said a curt: "I'm off to the library," and walked away in a huff. Harry, having nothing better to do, followed her. He needed the library to look up fresh Quidditch tactics, and to draw up practice timetables anyway. Alison smiled as he joined her, but they didn't say much to each other as they trudged to the library. Just as they went in, Alison dropped her books with a loud clatter. Several people looked up, annoyed, and Madam Pince, the librarian, peered grumpily over her _pince-nez _spectacles. Harry bent over with Alison to pick up the various textbooks, and as he knelt on the floor, he noticed that a necklace had popped out of Alison's robes as she bent down. Alison noticed it and she hurriedly stuffed it back in, but Harry had managed to get a good look at the necklace. It was a clear, tear-shaped, diamond, which shimmered faintly, on a thin golden chain. Harry thought it was rather strange that Alison was so eager to hide it, but he held his questions till they were seated on a table in the far corner of the library, doing their work silently.

"Alison… what was that necklace?" Alison stopped writing abruptly, and stared blankly at him.

"Er… nothing," she lied.

"You're not very convincing, you know!" 

"Very well, my mother gave it to me when I was little, and I wear it all the time," she said, sighing, and picking up her quill again.

"Is it magical? Real diamonds don't glow like that," he said helpfully, egging her on. Alison put her quill down again and gave him an 'I-can't-believe-you-can-be-so-nosey' look.

"It is magic… There's a phoenix tear in there- one of Mae's in fact- and it's got healing powers."

"Wow! Show me." Alison was grinning wickedly now.

"Well, I could rip your arm open…" she said, laughing.

"OK, go on!"

"I was joking, Harry!"

"But could you close it up again?"

"Yeah… but there's no way I'm making a gash in your arm to show you."

"Please?"

"No way." she said flatly. 

"Come on, Alison… I won't believe you, then!"

"Oh, very well… But not here… Somewhere empty- people will look!" she hissed. 

"C'mon, pack your books and we'll go to some disused classroom- there are plenty…"

"Oh, alright!" Alison snapped, stuffing her books into her bag.

Some minutes later, they were in an old, dusty, classroom, Alison rolling up her sleeves, and gesturing to Harry to do so, too. Harry was now having second thoughts- he wasn't sure about the cut Alison was going to make in his arm with the long knife she had Summoned from the kitchens. 

"Well, then, you ready?" she said picking up the knife.

Harry, nodded, winced, screwed his eyes shut, and prepared for the blow. Sure enough, some second later, he felt the cold touch of metal on his arm, and a split second later, searing pain right up till his elbow. He prised open as eyelid, only to see a long gash from his wrist to his elbow, blood flowing steadily out of it. Alison was bending over the cut, one hand on his arm, the other clasping the pendant tightly. Her eyes were shut, and her lips were moving silently, as though she was mumbling something he couldn't hear very well. The pain in his arm reached exploding point, when, suddenly, it began, gradually, to go away, till there was no cut at all… His limb was normal again! Suddenly, Alison snapped out of the trance- her lips were parted slightly and she was deathly pale. 

"See?" she said, quietly, her hands shaking slightly as she pulled down her sleeves.

"That was…" Harry was lost for words. Alison had recovered a bit from the after-shock, and so had he.

"C'mon," she said, smiling again, "The others'll be looking for us!"

Sure enough, Ron and Hermione were rather agitated when Harry and Alison clambered through the portrait hole. They had made up, but they were pacing the common room in a very restless state. Hermione gave a cry, and Ron tripped over Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, not even swearing at it, as he rushed over to them. "Where the hell have you been?" he said, breathlessly.

"The library," said Alison, innocently. She specialised in looking innocent, when the need arose.

"We looked in the library too, and we didn't find you! Where were you?" Hermione demanded.

"We took a different route to the common room- don't worry- we're still alive!" Harry said brightly, as he set his books down on a sofa.

"Never mind…" Ron shook his head. "Let's go down to dinner!"

* * * * * 

To Swim Chic: Yeah, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix _is _the title of Book 5, but it's just my version, so I really have to owe the title to the great J.K. Rowling… Thanks for spotting those mistakes, I'll try and watch out for those details… And if you find any more (that's not very hard lol!) please let me know! 

To Elena, WolfMoon, LittleEar BigEar's sis, and anonimiss: Thanks for giving such nice reviews!

To Darkness: Thanks for being such a sweet person and reading every one of my chapters! You rule! :-P

Thank you, all of you - please review as much as you can! It helps a lot to know what my mistakes are, and it makes me feel so satisfied when I get good reviews! So R/R I say! :-P

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter (wish I did though!)… They all belong to the G R E A T J.K. Rowling – so don't sue me! :-P


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